Industry continues spreading half-truths about hydrofracking

Nancy Schmitt ('''Gasland' Docu-farce,'' Tuesday) industry representatives and the numerous state and local officials who were specifically invited to the screening of ''Gasland'' at the Landmark Theatre should have accepted their responsibility to attend. No show!

Schmitt is absolutely right; It takes more than 10 minutes to understand the science and facts behind extracting natural gas from shale beds. As a refugee from the gas fields of Pennsylvania, I can state from personal experience that the movie is no farce. The tragedies of pollution are real, not staged. Those people were my neighbors. I witness their continuing struggles to survive. Both the landowners and the public are indeed being fleeced by robber baron corporations, and the state governments of both New York and Pennsylvania are complicit.

A half-truth is often more damaging than a lie. Schmitt continues to recite the industry's refrain that hydraulic fracturing is a safe and proven technology that has been used for more than 60 years. ''Unearthed: The Fracking Facade'' on YouTube offers a 24-minute, detailed analysis of this argument.

While the singular act of fracturing subterranean shale beds doesn't create pollution, it does accelerate the release of both biogenic and thermogenic gases. It is the totality of the extractive industrial process, the well-bore casing failures, surface spills, intentional dumping of untreatable fracking fluids, flaring (open burning) of toxic fluids, and the release of massive amounts of volatile organic chemicals that poison the air, the surface waters, the aquifers, the animals and the people.

It is the massive industrialization, the destruction of roads, forests and fields, the constant truck traffic, the ever-present noise of massive compressor stations, the choking fumes, the quarries, the pipelines and the obliteration of all peace and tranquility that fractures the community. And it is the sick, hollow fear that comes with the realization that all levels of government have not only abandoned you, but will turn their force against any who dare to complain.

As an engineer, Ms. Schmitt would understand the equation proffered by New York that: (strict enforcement of adequate regulation) + (best management practices by industry) = minimal pollution. Let me ask how fast she might drive on Interstate 81 if she knew there were only seventeen troopers in the entire State of New York and that she would only get paid on those days she sped to work.

There is no science behind New York's assessment of the risks associated with this industry. It is the SGEIS that is a farce. There has been absolutely no assessment of the potential risks to long-term health. The facts are that the New York State Energy and Development Authority contracted with seven private consulting firms to read the existing literature on the development of natural gas. Alpha Environmental then compiled the reports and submitted the summary for the SGEIS. An email received from Alan Wechsler, acting records access officer of NYSERDA states: ''There was no original research or testing involved as this was a paper study to compile existing knowledge.'' It is a fact that the New York State Office of General Services paid a private consulting firm $13,143 to remove from the SGEIS the high-development scenario of the socio-economic impacts associated with development of the Marcellus shale.

I raise my hand and say that global warming is both imminent and accelerated by the burning of fossil fuels. I say Gov. Andrew Cuomo should have the political courage to use the SUNY system to develop a sustainable alternative energy mecca in New York.

Ms. Schmitt, I rode my bicycle over 2,000 miles last year and I am willing to debate you in civil discourse on this issue at the Landmark Theatre or any other public venue of your choosing.